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Two-Time Defending Champion Clarkson looking to Make it Three Straight

3/19/2019 11:30:00 AM

Two-time defending National Champion Clarkson University is back at the Frozen Four for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time in the past six seasons. The Golden Knights, led by senior captain Cassidy Vinkle and assistant captains Josiane Pozzebon and Ella Shelton, are striving to become only the second women's hockey program in the national tournament history to win three straight NCAA Titles.

In its 16-year Division 1 history, Clarkson Women's Hockey has raised a championship banner to the Cheel Arena rafters three times – 2014, 2017 and 2018.

Guided by 11th-year Head Coach Matt Desrosiers and assistants Britni Smith and Tony Maci, the Knights have skated to their fourth consecutive 30-win campaign, owning a 30-7-2 overall record. The Green and Gold tied for second in the 12-team ECAC Hockey standings with a 16-5-1 league mark.

Clarkson advanced to this year's Frozen Four in Hamden, CT, the site of its first National Championship, with a 2-1 overtime triumph over Boston College in the quarterfinal round. Clarkson, the fourth seed will be vying with WCHA foes #1 Wisconsin, and #2 Minnesota along with ECAC Hockey rival #5 Cornell this weekend at People's United Center on the campus of Quinnipiac University. The Knights will face off against the Badgers on Friday, starting at 7:00 p.m. EST.  The Gophers and Big Red will meet up in the other semifinal contest, slated for an 4:00 p.m. EST start. Friday winners will square off on Sunday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST to determine who will be crowned the champion of the 19th NCAA Women's ice Hockey Championship.

Women's NCAA Frozen Four games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Clarkson vs Wisconsin - NCAA Frozen Four notes
ECAC Hockey
USCHO.com Poll
USA Today Poll
NCAA Pairwise Rankings
Coaches Corner with Mike Vaillancourt, B99.3 radio 

Clarkson will be striving for its fourth national title in the past six years, while Wisconsin will be looking to add its sixth to the Badger's trophy case. Minnesota has won six national title, while Cornell is making its first Frozen Four appearance.


• The Knights have skated in four consecutive overtime games, winning all three tournament games last year in the extra session en route to claiming the NCAA crown.
• Making its eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and seventh consecutive showing in women's college hockey's showcase event, the Knights are unbeaten in their last 19 postseason games, including seven straight NCAA games. 
• Clarkson's last postseason loss was a 3-2 overtime setback to Boston College in the 2016 semifinal round in Durham, NH. Clarkson's Class of 2020, which suffered it only postseason loss with that setback, got some payback with Saturday's overtime triumph against the Eagles.
• Clarkson is 11-4 in the NCAA Tournament, including a 3-1 mark in the semifinals. In its first ever semifinal showing, the Knights defeated Mercyhurst 5-1 in 2014. Clarkson knocked off Minnesota 4-3 in 2017 and Ohio State 1-0 ot last year.  The Green and Gold fell to Boston College 3-2 in overtime of the 2016 semifinals. 
• Clarkson has gone 4-0 in quarterfinal round play at Cheel Arena. The first three times they won an NCAA Tournament game at home, the Knights went on to win the National Championship. 
• The Knights enter the Frozen Four on a five-game winning streak and the nation's second-longest unbeaten streak at eight games (7-0-1), behind only Wisconsin's 12 games (10-0-2).
• Clarkson has posted eight consecutive seasons of over 20 victories and five 30-win campaigns, including the last the last four years.
• Through Clarkson's 16-year history as a Division I program, the Knights have compiled an all-time record of 379-166-61 for a .676 winning percentage.
• Clarkson owns the third most potent offense in Division I, averaging 3.67 goals.
• Defensively the Green and Gold are also third in Division I, allowing only 1.74 goals.
• The Knights' scoring margin is also third in the country at 1.92.
• Clarkson has outscored the opponents 60-21 in the second period.
• Headlining the Green and Gold attack are three of the top five scorers in Division I, including a pair of Top 10 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Finalists. Loren Gabel leads the nation in goals with 40 and and is second in points (69). Linemates, Elizabeth Giguere tops Division I in points with 73 and is the nation's leading player maker with 47 assists., while junior center Michaela Pejzlova is fifth in the NCAA in points with 55.
• Making up arguably the top line ever in women's college hockey, the Clarkson trio has combined for 85 goals and 112 assists for 197 points. That is more goals than 17 other Division I teams, including seven ECAC Hockey squads, more assists than seven teams (four in ECAC) and more points than 12 other teams (six in ECAC).
• Averaging almost two points per game, Gabel, a Top 3 Finalist for the Patty Kazmaier for the second year in a row,  has tallied 69 points (40-29) through 37 games. She leads the country in game-winning goals, connecting for her 10th and 11th deciding goals of the season in the victories at the ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament on March 9-10.  Gabel scored her fifth and sixth goals of this year's playoffs within a 26-second span early in the second period of the March 10 4-1 win over Cornell in the tournament championship game. She also scored the opening goal in the 2-0 semifinal win over Colgate.Through 159 career games, Gabel has amassed 213 points on 116 goals and 97 assists as the Green and Gold's all-time leading scorer. 
• Giguere has played in four NCAA Tournament games in her two-year collegiate career and has scored the game-winning goal in overtime three times, and set up another NCAA overtime win for the Golden Knights with the primary assist.  She scored the winner in this past Saturday's 2-1 overtime victory over Boston College.  Giguere scored the deciding goal at 7:55 of overtime in the 2-1 2018 NCAA Championship game victory over Colgate.  She also tallied the winning goal in last year's 2-1 victory over Mercyhurst in the quarterfinals.
• Giguere has recorded 26 goals and 47 assists through 39 games. She is steadily moving up the Clarkson all-time scoring lists and looks to challenge Gabel's records before her collegiate career is over. Through just 80 games, she has tallied 144 points on 53 goals and 91 assists. Giguere has scored a Clarkson record five shorthanded goals this season. Only two teams, other than Clarkson have more shorthanded goals than Giguere - Cornell and Boston College with six. She has also tallied three power-play goals, five game-winners and posts a nation-high +64 rating.
• Centering the top line in college hockey, Pejzlova has 55 points on 19 goals and 36 assists, and has accumulated 142 career points (56-86) in 117 games. She is tied for the team lead in power-play goals with four and has scored four game-winners, and is tied for the second best plus/minus in the nation, along with Gabel (+54).
• Graduate transfer T.T. Cianfarano has been a nice addition to the Clarkson lineup,  recording 34 points on 18 goals and 16 assists.  An all-star for this year's Frozen Four host Quinnipiac, she played in 111 career games for the Bobcats from 2014-18 and graduated from Quinnipiac as one of the Bobcats' all-time leading scorers, averaging nearly a point per game with 58 goals and 52 assists. Cianfarano was named 2016 ECAC Hockey Player of the Year as a sophomore.
• Ella Shelton (6-19) and senior Emma Keenan (3-17) round out Clarkson's 20-point scorers with 25 and 21 points, respectively from the blueline.
• An All-American at Ohio State, graduate transfer Kassidy Sauve has been stellar in in the postseason,  making 153 saves on 158 shots (.968 save pct) with two shutouts in five games. Starting 35 games overall, she posts a .938 save percentage (5th in nation), a 1.65 GAA (3rd) and is second in the country in wins with a 27-6-2 record, including seven shutouts (3rd). Sauve was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week five times, the most by any league player, and was honored as the conference Goaltender of the Month for both December and February along with gaining third-team All-League honors.
• Senior assistant captain, defenseman Josiane Pozzebon scored the biggest goal of her career this past Saturday in the quarterfinal game against Boston College. With 3:03 remaining in regulation, Pozzebon made a great individual rush through the Eagles' defense and slipped in her sixth goal of the season and 19th of her career to tie the game, forcing the Knights' fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament overtime game.
• Clarkson has scored 37 goals in the first or last two minutes of periods. The quickest goal to start a game by a Knight this season was from Loren Gabel just eight seconds into the 5-1 win over Yale (1/18). 
• Clarkson went 18-1-1 at Cheel Arena this season, outscoring opponents 76-29 in Potsdam. The lone home loss was a 4-3 overtime setback to Colgate on February 9. 
• The Knights have played six overtime games in their last 10 outings, going 3-2-1 in the extra sessions. For the season, Clarkson is 4-3-2 in overtime games. 
• Clarkson was well represented on the ECAC Hockey All-League teams as six Knight earned post-season accolades. Loren Gabel was named First-Team for the second consecutive year. Named as conference Second-Team All-Stars were Ella Shelton and Elizabeth Giguere. Three Knights, Kassidy Sauve, Josiane Pozzebon and Michaela Pejzlova gained Third-Team recognition.
 
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